AN: Firstly, I apologies for the delay. As a few of you have guessed (and thank you for the messages) I've had a bit of drama going on my end that's eaten up my time. I'm trying to get back in the swing of things now. If theres anyone still reading, drop me a review or a PM. (Really worried I've lost you all what with taking so long to update!)
Enough about me. We're on Irina's last chapter before we can get stuck into Team Outcast causing some trouble :)
Irina the Outcast - Part 3
JANUARY 4TH
"You've ripped it, you stupid cow!"
Irina felt her blood pounding in her temples. She would have done anything to throw Tanya threw the wall at that point. She was starting to regret upsetting Kate. Though the middle sister seemed to be so easily upset that Irina didn't blame herself. It was only a joke, after all. It wasn't like Irina actually meant that Kate was the ugly sister. Or that her hair was a frizzy birds nest. Or that make up was a waste on such a face – 'if I looked like that I wouldn't be drawing attention to myself', she had said, complete with hair flick and patronising laughter. Kid can't take a joke, she thought, as Kate fled from the room still in her nightgown. That left just Tanya to help Irina sort out her damaged dress, and the youngest Denali girl proved to be a useless seamstress. Cossetted brat can't do anything right. Irina looked again at her cropped dress. Tanya had only had to trim the worst of the damaged fabric from the bottom. Now the damn thing was so short, it would be indecent to wear even in private.
"Good!" Tanya snapped back, twirling her scissors around her forefinger. "You're an embarrassment walking around in that scraggy old thing."
A sudden growl erupted from Irina's rage and in a flash of panic, Tanya threw the scissors at her sister! They missed, narrowly, but the shrieks from both girls saw Carmen flashing into the room.
"Whoa!" she called out, trying to get between them.
"Look what she's done!" Irina waved her tattered gown in Carmen's face - damaged by Alex the night before and left irreparable by Tanya that morning.
Carmen remained calm. "I will," she said. "When I'm not looking at you with your hand around your sister's throat."
Irina followed Carmen's eyeline to Tanya, pinned against the wall by Irina's own hand.
"Oh…" she trailed off, suddenly thinking of her own ineptitude for giving Eleazar a chance to exact his new regime against her.
Releasing her baby sister, Irina moved aside, clutching her ruined dress to her chest. Tanya stormed passed screeching 'fucking psycho!' as she did so.
"Tanya!"
Eleazar hadn't heard anything damning coming from Irina, so the elder Denali suddenly found herself in the clear as Tanya tried, unsuccessfully, to get the Volturi prince on side. Irina did love her baby sister, despite the near constant friction between them, though she wasn't displeased to hear the sharp smacks the girl received for her language.
'Deplorable language', Eleazar had called it. 'Especially directed at your sister!'. It was a little odd for Irina to hear Eleazar defending her. For a moment she thought it felt nice, before quickly quashing the feeling and deciding instead that the man was patronising in the extreme to think she needed defending at all, let alone from him. The pillock, she thought, taking a seat on her unmade bed.
Carmen stepped over the debris in the girls' room to join Irina.
"Sorry," Irina grunted. She wasn't, of course, but she wasn't stupid either. The Volturi scum seemed to put a lot of faith in saying sorry and if the meaningless word might help her evade punishment later, then she'd say it as often as they liked.
It worked. Carmen smiled at the girl and gently pulled the dress from her arms.
"There is more repair than fabric," she said, sighing softly. "How is the other one fairing?"
"No better," Irina admitted reluctantly. "I don't want a new one. I can fix this." She sounded so certain, but her expression betrayed her as she looked at the ruined garment in her hands. Barely fit for dish rags.
"Irina…" Carmen stopped just in time. Do not escalate the situation, she told herself. "Right," she said, clapping her hands on her thighs before standing. "Let me see both gowns."
Irina moved from the bed to the closet and dragged out her other dress. Tatty thing looked even worse than the first. Irina didn't dislike that, persay. She saw the tears and blemishes as part of the uniform she wore now. One that told others of her status, her 'unwillingly held captive' status. Still, even Irina had limits. What a mess!
"Hold them up, Carmen commanded before beginning an inspection of each. "That stain will be very difficult to wash out. What is it? It looks like blood…"
Irina pulled away and her eyes widened for a brief moment before schooling her features into nonchalance.
Of course, Carmen tutted to herself as she remembered how the girl had returned to their quarters the evening before. Bruised and bloodied and we have no idea how or why! Getting back on track, Carmen smiled softly and removed Irina's third and final dress from the closet - the one she and Eleazar had commissioned for Irina for Christmas just gone.
"I'm not wearing…"
Irina didn't get any further.
"You are wearing this one," Carmen said with certainty forcing the dress into Irina's hands. "Until we have come up with a more permanent solution."
That piqued Irina's interest. "More permanent?"
"We could unpick the two gowns you brought with you to Volterra and make something new."
Irina side eyed the old gowns, torn and frayed. She could remember Sasha presenting her with each of those gowns. Both happy memories, (particularly because neither Kate nor Tanya received gifts on those occasions).
The girls had each brought two gowns, some linens and a few personal effects from the home they had shared with their mother when the guards came to escort them all to Volterra. It was all they could pack with a moments' notice, and all they could carry.
Tanya had long since committed her things to the fires, requiring no reminders of their old life. Kate had kept hers, all tidied away in a box under her bed. Gone, and no doubt forgotten, Irina assumed. Irina, however, had devoted herself to wearing her gowns - cheap though they were in comparison to the opulent materials her sisters were dressed in - to not only remind herself of who she was, but to remind others, too. She was Sasha's daughter - not Carmen's, not Eleazar's. Sasha's. And she wasn't ready to give up on her mother just yet.
That said, with one more look to the scraggy old gowns on her bed, Irina knew she was fighting a losing battle.
"I… I don't know how to do that," she said. "Unpick and remake, I mean. Sasha did that sort of thing for us." Another eye on her old dresses as she squeezed the new one to her chest, and Irina's mindset began to change. The new one felt so… well… new! So fresh, so rich, so perfect. If Carmen insists I wear it, it's not my fault. If she insists then I'm not shedding my roots willingly - it will be Carmen's doing, not mine.
"I don't know how to do it, either," Carmen admitted. "Sulpicia has been teaching me and I've proved a slow learner. I'm sure she would help us."
Irina scowled at the woman for ruining her guilt-freeing plans. You can't do anything right! Stupid cow! "I don't like being indebted," she snarled, thoroughly annoyed. "I'll just wear my old dresses as they are. It's no bother. Everyone knows I'm a prisoner here. Prisoners wear rags, right?"
Disagreeable little madame. "I don't see what choice you have, Irina." Carmen scooped up the old gowns leaving Irina with no choice at all. "Unless you would prefer to go around the coven in your linens?" Which we buy for you and which for some reason you can accept without quarrel!
Carmen had to turn away and busy herself with tidying a few things on the chest of drawers. "For now, you'll have to wear the one we bought you for Christmas. Think of it as a loan until we repair your old ones, if it helps."
And that was that, Carmen swaggered out of the girls' room, two dog-eared dresses in her arms.
"Thanks," Irina called after her, dripping sarcasm. She received an equally sarcastic 'You're welcome' in return.
Carmen dropped the dresses in her bedchamber and went straight through to the main chamber to answer their knocking door. "Don't any of you move," she called to her mate and the girls as she passed them, none of whom had acknowledged the knocking.
Eleazar huffed and tutted in Tanya's general direction. She did the same back to him, though she inched her way closer along the sofa they shared. Now the girl's anger had dissipated she really wanted to say sorry for being such a brat. She was scared of annoying Eleazar too much, scared he would reject her, send her away. Irina seemed to say sorry so easily even when she clearly didn't feel that way. Tanya imagined she would only be able to make her apologies on her death bed. She just found it so hard! Kate wasn't helping, looking nervously between the two from the window seat.
Demetri and the twins stepped through the door as Carmen opened it. "Dad said we have to come here today, if that's okay with you?" the elder boy said, wasting no time in heading on inside.
"Of course it is, though Kate may want to get dressed," Carmen said as they trooped passed, seeing Kate flash from the room in her nightwear. "Whats going on at your place?"
"I'm pretty sure Felix is in trouble," Demetri explained. "Or he will be. Dad's raging."
After filling a jug with bloodwine, Carmen collected enough goblets for them all and set them on the table where Eleazar poured them out.
"Irina!" he called towards the hallway. "Bloodwine!"
Watching Jane for a moment, Carmen was quite pleased to see the girl offering no spiteful additions to her brother's brief explanation of morning events in the south tower. "What has Felix done now?" she asked, probing a little.
Demetri shrugged, so it was Jane Carmen concentrated on. "Something to do with Corin," she replied, taking a seat by Tanya. "That's all I heard."
No spite at all, Carmen realised. That's… refreshing. Sulpicia will be so happy!
"Typical," Eleazar huffed. The huffing was playing on Carmen's last nerve and it was only 10am. "There goes tonight's card game if Felix is acting a prat again."
Carmen raised an eyebrow at her mate. "What card game?"
Eleazar cursed into his goblet of bloodwine before swearing blind that he'd told Carmen he was playing cards at Magnus' later that evening.
Five young vampires shook their heads at the pair of adults arguing around them, all wondering similarly how adults seemed to get away with behaviour which they bemoaned was horrific coming from children. Hypocrites, Jane thought to herself. She had learned from the day before to keep such jeers in her head, at least.
"Shall we go outside?" she asked, pulling Tanya's attention away from her faux parents.
"Look at the weather!" Tanya burst, face full of shock. "I'm not going out in the rain."
Jane looked out the same window as Tanya, searching the skies for imminent thunder. "It's barely drizzle."
Tanya twirled a curl around her little finger. "It's enough to fu… wreck my hair."
Coming to a lull in their argument, both Eleazar and Carmen turned a sharp eye on the youngest Denali girl before realising she had covered her bad language herself.
"Nice save," Carmen whispered, pleased with the girl.
Jane was still getting used to girlie things like weather and how it meant girls wouldn't want to go outside. Growing up with only boys for company had meant she sometimes missed such things. She didn't miss, however, Irina joining the main chamber in her new gown. Neither did anyone else.
Eleazar couldn't hide his smile. "You look very nice, Irina," he said, trying to encourage the girl.
"Thanks," Irina replied, rolling her eyes.
"She always looks nice," Carmen added, sensing Irina was still unhappy being forced to wear the dress they had bought her.
Irina appreciated Carmen's effort, though she couldn't bring herself to saying so. Despite her reticence, she did like the dress… she just didn't want to like it.
"Are you seriously going to wear a new dress with those old shoes?" Tanya piped up, scowling at her sister's feet.
Irina went to the mirror to check out her hair. "The new dress is temporary, and there's nothing wrong with my shoes." Remembering why she had been forced to wear the damn dress - because Tanya ripped her old one - Irina looked back over her shoulder and glared at her baby sister. "You won't be able to ruin my shoes, Tan. They're quality."
Nudging Jane to join in, Tanya smirked back at Irina. "Sounds like a challenge."
"I'm sure we could think of something," Jane replied.
"Don't you dare!" Irina screeched.
"They won't," Eleazar said, wincing a little at Irina's tone. "Or they will be answering to me. Both of them," he added, for Jane's benefit.
Both girls shrank away from the man, which Eleazar didn't like one bit. He truly hoped he'd only have to been authoritarian for a short time because it really didn't suit him. He'd play the part for as long as necessary, though. Anything for an easy life in the future. Short term pain for long term gain, he reminded himself.
Kate, forever attempting to mediate between her sisters, looked sadly to Irina's scuffed and tatty footwear. "They are past their best, Irina…" she drifted off seeing her sister throw a glare in her direction. "But perfectly serviceable."
"Like I said," Irina announced to the room. "They are quality shoes. Never buy cheap shoes or a cheap bed - if you're not in one you're in the other."
"That doesn't really apply to vampires, does it?" Alec asked. He knew Irina rarely slept, so it certainly didn't apply to her.
"It did to Sasha."
"Tanya!" Carmen shouted out, giving the girl a hefty smack for her callous remark.
"You really are pushing your luck today, my girl," Eleazar told her, wagging a finger in Tanya's direction. Luckily for her, Irina took the attention as she stalked to the door. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Guard hall!" Irina shot back. She had business to take care of, but mostly, she wanted away from Tanya. Eleazar simply shook his head in reply, annoying Irina even more. "Why not?"
"We need to talk about last night first," he reminded her.
"I'm not talking about it." When Eleazar stood, Irina glanced at the little witches in her chambers - she wasn't about to force Eleazar's hand with his new rules so soon, not with an audience. I'll embarrass him into shutting up, she thought. "It was just a little rough foreplay. Why do you even care?" she asked. "I didn't realise my sex life would offend you so much. Feeling jealous?"
"Are you trying to embarrass me into silence?" The look on Irina's face told Eleazar he was right. "We can talk about sex if you like, Irina. I'm no stranger to it and I'm not embarrassed by it either."
"You seemed pretty embarrassed to me a few days ago," she reminded him, smiling coyly at the man.
Eleazar all but laughed in her face. "Try walking out that door without my permission and we'll see who's embarrassed."
Carmen shook her head. "I'm not really sure what you mean, my love?" He's trying, she reminded herself. "But this conversation will have to be shelved for later on…" she paused to gesture to the assortment of younger vampires in the room, all hanging on to every word. "When there are less ears."
"Can I go to the guard hall, or not?" Irina asked, or rather, demanded to know. She even tacked on a disingenuous 'please' to tip the scales in her favour.
Demetri jumped to his feet. "I'll come," he said, assuming Irina had been given the go ahead before anyone had time to refute
"Erm, no," Irina said to the boy. "I'm not babysitting, Demetri."
"I wasn't planning on hanging around with you in public, Irina," Demetri explained. "I'm not committing social suicide."
"Demetri," Eleazar ground out at his nephew. "That was unkind."
The boy shrugged. "It's the truth," he said, skipping away from his uncle before the man could strike.
Tanya piped up again, "Even if it wasn't social suicide, which it is, it would still make for miserable company."
Kate launched into mediation, again, whilst Eleazar gave a short round of fucks to Tanya and Demetri for their spite. "I'll come with you, sis," she said, doing a good job of sounding happy at the prospect. "Maybe Odi will be there, too?"
"They're the outcasts now," Tanya explained to her faux parents. "It's their new gang now they've been kicked out of the inbetweeners."
"Who's calling you outcasts?!" Carmen asked, suddenly feeling protective over the Irina. It was one thing for Irina to cause her grief, quite another to have the guards calling her names.
"That's what they call themselves," Tanya answered, shrugging.
Irina merely scowled at her baby sister before turning her glare on Eleazar, waiting for the pleb to grace her with his approval.
"Guard hall, and only the guard hall." Before the sisters could reach the door, Eleazar added, "And you'll be back before dusk."
"Dusk?!" Irina nearly chocked on the word. A curfew?! A fucking curfew?! Kate's pleading expression along with the desire to get the hell out of the west tower saw Irina hold her tongue on the matter. "Fine, whatever." Ooo, that hurt!
Eleazar bobbed his head. "We'll talk later."
Kate pushed her sister out the door before Eleazar heard the Irina's reply.
"Will that be before the card game?" Tanya asked Eleazar, eyebrows wiggling comically and her eyes drifting towards Carmen.
"It will have to be, wont it?" Eleazar cringed hearing his bed chamber door slam as Carmen sought out some 'space'. I'm going to pay for this, he thought, wondering if a few drinks and a card game was worth it. Hearing Tanya's giggles soon brought him out of his head. "Little trouble maker," he playfully growled in her direction.
Irina let her sister and Demetri walk ahead of her when they left the west tower stair well, and neither of them noticed as she slipped away shortly afterwards.
"Why don't you join us in the guard hall," Kate asked the boy.
Demetri smiled coyly. "I'm meeting Adrianna," he admitted shyly. "She will be getting off her shift soon so I'm going to wait for her in her dorm room."
Kate nodded along. She paused for a moment looking around for her sister. She didn't know where Irina could have gone, but she was glad to have five minutes without the surly girl. "Is that the only reason?" she asked. "What you said back in the tower…"
"Well…" Demetri came to a halt as he tried to come up with the correct phrasing. He had no desire to upset Kate - he liked Kate, everyone liked Kate. "Irina is social suicide," he admitted. "Not you, though," he hurried to say. "Just her."
Kate sighed deeply and started walking again. "Tanya wants us to stay in the coven, and I'd like to, too, but how can we if no one accepts Irina?"
Demetri sped up to her side. He didn't want the Denali girls to leave! Having some more young blood in the coven was a dream come true for him and his siblings. It was difficult for royal vampires to find friends their own age, or playmates, as his mother had referred to the girls. 'Pissing playmates, like we're toddlers at a tea party'. Demetri had received the back of his mother's hand for saying that in her presence.
"The coven will accept Irina, Kate," he tried. "It will just take time after all the trouble she caused."
"Are you sure?" Kate asked, eyes brimming with hope.
"Yeah, of course," the boy lied. "If you could get her to be nicer to people, it would be quicker." Even as Demetri spoke he knew what a tough challenge it would be. But that was the extent of his advice.
With that, Demetri left Kate in the guard hall, sneaking passed Magnus to get to the guard dorms. The middle Denali girl looked around for friendly faces. Most of the guards offered her a small smile before returning to their private conversations and games. Odi wasn't about, and Kate didn't have the confidence to approach anyone else, so she ordered two tankards of bloodwine and sat at the outcast table waiting for Irina to return.
It took a while, but Irina eventually joined her.
Sitting alone for all that time had brought Kate's anxieties to the fore and she snapped at her sister. "Where have you been?"
Not that Irina was bothered. "Nowhere," she replied, looking around the guard hall until her eyes fixed on Alex. She cocked her head to call him to her, but the guard refused to move until he saw the bag in her hand.
Kate looked at the curious linen sack her sister carried. She was certain she hadn't brought it with her from the west tower. "Whats in the bag?"
Irina huffed at her sister and pulled the bag out of view. "Nothing."
"Have you got it?" Alex hissed, snatching the bag from Irina's hands. He took a peek inside and the girls saw a smile spread across his face as he bobbed his head. "You are sure there will be no come back with this, right?"
"Have some faith in me, Alex," Irina replied, getting as close as she could to the handsome guard.
Alex took a step away from the girl. "And you can keep me stocked, right?"
Pretending she hadn't noticed the snub, Irina nodded back. "So long as you keep paying, I'll keep supplying."
"I'll pay you later." With that, Alex flashed from the guard hall and headed to his dorm to stash his goods.
"What will he be paying you for?" Kate sniggered to herself thinking how Tanya would have responded had she been there - 'to suffer her company?'
"Don't ask questions, Kate," Irina said, taking her seat. "The answer will only upset you." Seeing her little sister's face turn from perplexed to concerned, Irina huffed and explained as much as she was willing. "I'm making sure we'll have some cash behind us when we finally leave this hell hole."
Well that explains nothing! Kate pushed her feelings of unease down deep with a fist pressed in her stomach. "It's not so bad here, Irina."
Irina snorted, grabbing her tankard from the table. She didn't think to thank Kate for fetching it for her before taking a sip. "You sound like Tanya."
"Well… maybe Tanya's right?"
"She isn't." The elder girl's no-nonsense tone had Kate shrink a little. "I know you like it here, Kate, but how can we spend eternity as prisoners with our mother's executors?"
Kate had no answer to offer her sister. "I wouldn't put it quite like that…"
Irina held up her hand, cutting off Kate's weak response. Irina had been bouncing back and forth between staying or leaving, but her own words rung true - how could we possibly stay here? "A gilded cage is still a cage," she said.
As Irina continued pointing out all the issues - non-issues in Kate's mind - about living in Volterra, she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince – Kate, or herself.
The younger girl slumped into her seat as her sister ranted on, wrapping her arms around her waist to comfort the growing ache in her stomach. Luckily Irina was too wrapped up in her own monologue to notice, because she definitely would have mocked Kate for her 'overly emotional reactions', as she called them. 'True power is restraint.' Yeah, because being angry about everything is so restrained. Of course, Kate hadn't actually said that out loud to her sister… but she pictured saying it so often that it almost felt like she had. Still, it gave the girl little comfort in her current predicament. Kate had Tanya in one ear wittering on about their wonderful life and Irina in the other planning to take them away into the great unknown. Oddly, it was only conversations with Irina that knotted Kate's stomach and gave her headaches. Kate was yet to work out the significance of that.
"Can I sit with you?"
The Denali sisters were taken by surprise to see Corin standing at their table. Since Halloween, Corin refused to even glance in Irina's direction, let alone talk to her.
"You want to sit with us?" Irina asked, her usual spiteful tone forgotten as disbelief took over.
'Want' is a strong word, Corin thought to herself. Her guard friends were all on shift, and she simply didn't wish to sit alone. After Aro's interruption that morning, she and Felix had scaled down the tower walls to 'talk' about Heidi, which meant a major row about Heidi. Now she'd had time to calm down, Corin realised the King had purposely tried to drive a wedge between her and Felix. No doubt as payback for breaking his rules, again, she thought with a cringe. Damn vampiric emotions blowing things out of proportion. And now I'm stuck with Irina as penance.
"How come you aren't with Felix?" Kate asked.
Before Corin could answer, Odi walked into the guard hall. For a moment, he stood there, clearly unimpressed with the looks and hushed whispers aimed in his direction.
"Fuck you all!" he sang out, before noticing the Denali girls at their new outcast table. His grin widened seeing Corin there. The outcasts are growing in number, brilliant!
"Well," Irina pushed Corin, repeating Kate's question.
"Gossip?" Odi asked, desperate to hear something to take his mind off his own problems.
It didn't take much more probing from the three of them to coax a tale from Corin. She regaled them all with the horrors of her day. Caught in the king's chambers twice in two days was bad luck, horrible luck, but Odi sure was glad to have someone else's dramas to concentrate on for a while.
She didn't give them many details, though, as when Renata and Carlisle arrived in the guard hall and sat at the inbetweeners table, Corin joined them. She hadn't wanted to, however. She had been having a good time with the outcasts - Outcasts, she thought. I like it. - It was more a case of self-preservation.
Renata had been quite vocal over Corin and Felix purposely breaking the King's own rules for his household, and she would definitely have something to say to the younger guard for being caught in Felix' room twice in two days. Corin had to be with Renata to deflect any fresh information coming her way. Please God, she prayed. Please tell me Carlisle doesn't know about my ineptitude yet.
Both Odi and Irina watched Corin leave. Odi would have liked to follow, but he couldn't face doing the walk of shame away from his inbetweener friends when Caius arrived. Irina, too, missed the old group. She told herself over and over that she'd only hung around with the inbetweeners out of boredom. The girl was so convincing that she damn near believed her own lies. But when all was said and done, Renata, Carlisle, Corin, Felix, Odi, and Dora… well, they had been her friends until she'd screwed them over. Her first friends in the world, in fact. Her only friends. Stealing from them had started with malice but it had soon become a way to impress her new friends. A way to keep them on side. She would never, ever say so out loud, but Irina regretted her actions. Or at least, she regretted being caught.
Still, she had Odi back already, and Corin had willingly sat with her, too. Chancing a look to her little sister, Irina wondered whether either would have sat with her had Kate not been there. It was no secret to Irina that she was difficult to like. Her pretty little sisters had always been more of a draw to others than she had. Not that they appreciate how easy they have it, she thought bitterly. It proved one thing to Irina, however - she couldn't leave the coven without her sisters. Life would be far too difficult without Kate or Tanya to draw in unsuspecting fools to rob and to feed from.
If had Irina could be honest with herself, she needed her sisters for more than that. The loneliness she felt since joining the Volturi coven was crushing the girl. For all her blustering, she didn't want to be alone out there in the big wide world - Kate and Tanya annoyed the heck out of her, but she wanted them around.
Snapping Irina from her thoughts, Magnus swept through the guard hall like a man on a mission. "We need to pay a visit to your dorm, young one," he announced, clicking his fingers at Corin as he passed her table.
"Why?" Corin croaked, knowing damn well why!
Magnus paused mid stride. He didn't turn, he didn't need to. The whole guard hall froze with him, waiting for Corin to sort herself out - guards did not question the masters. Guards obeyed without delay, without objection and without question.
Sensing her impending doom, Corin jumped to her feet. "I mean, yes, Master," she called, following Magnus who thankfully starting walking again.
Irina and Kate started whispering about what Corin could have done. Sure, being caught in Aro's chambers uninvited wasn't great, but Magnus wasn't one to make a show of people as a general rule. Odi had to explain that guards were not permitted in the master's chamber without invite, and that Felix' invite wasn't enough of an invite anyway.
Irina was glad she'd only enjoyed the male guards in their own dorms. Although… hmmm. She banked the information for future use in case there was ever a guard she would like to cause some trouble for. If Alex doesn't pay up for the swag bag I gave him, he's first, she thought, looking in the guard's direction whilst he continued to pretend she didn't exist.
"I'm not sure whether questioning the miserable old bastard was brave or stupid," Odi mumbled. "But bless her for trying." He tutted to himself realising Corin was braver than him. Or stupider? He wasn't sure.
Sometime later, Felix strolled into the guard hall seeking his lover. He was treated to Odi's usual reception in the guard hall – muffled whispers and questioning eyes. Odi noticed that Felix wasn't as affected by the reception as he was, presumably because the Volturi price had his father's ego. Odi fancied getting the dirt from his young friend, but before he could, Felix was already at the foot of the guard dorm stairs being cut off by Magnus.
"Do not step foot on these stairs, young one."
Odi winced at his father's tone. I'm good to wait, he thought. Like everyone else in the guard hall, Odi and the Denali girls hung onto every word watching as Felix became more confused and more uncomfortable.
"This doesn't look good," Kate hissed across the table to Odi. "Why is Corin in so much trouble?"
Irina wanted an answer to Kate's question, too. After her solitary brush with the juggernaut at Midsummer, she found herself feeling slightly sorry for Corin. She much preferred dealing with Eleazar, or even Basileus. Both of whom seemed too scared to try anything so awkward as discipline with her. Though that might be changing, she reminded herself with Eleazar's new regime in mind.
"I'm not sure," Odi replied to Kate. "But I'll find out."
He waited for his father to fully retreat before leaving Irina and Kate at their table and flashing to Felix. "What did you do?"
"I have no idea!"
Irina was briefly tempted to join the boys until Renata appeared. Best wait, she thought. Instead, she gave Kate a nudge.
"Can you hear what they're saying?" she whispered to her little sister, both girls hanging on to every hushed word coming from Odi, Renata and Felix.
Kate strained a little closer to the trio, leaning back in her chair as far as she would dare. It was a futile effort. "No," she said with a small huff over her wasted efforts. "We'll have to wait for Odi to come back."
Sure enough, Odi returned after Felix hightailed it out of the guard hall following Magnus' threat to 'help' him along. Renata returned to her table shaking her head after the boy.
"Corin's on restriction for a while," Odi told the girls and repeated what he'd learned from Renata and Felix. "We will definitely be able to recruit her to our table, though. Felix, too. They've been dumped by the inbetweeners. Kings orders."
Irina positively beamed hearing such news. Kate smiled along politely, but she worried for Corin having the Juggernaut so angry with her.
"Will she be okay?" Kate asked. "Corin, I mean."
Odi tutted into the air. "Of course she will!" he scoffed. "The girls get away with murder around here." Just before Kate could truly relax, Odi slipped in, "She will have had a hiding, I guess."
Yup, anxiety rising, Kate thought, gulping down the last of her bloodwine. She couldn't even go to the bar and fetch another one. As Caius and Dora had joined their friends for an afternoon drink, Turk was currently busy serving them. And before a gap appeared Chelsea and Afton were there, too. The young Denali girl didn't have the confidence to stand in a queue with them.
Odi and Irina began discussing the prospect of adding more members to their table. They picked through each coven member who came to mind and worked out how easy they would be to 'turn'. To Kate's ears, Odi sounded like he simply wanted a few more friends. In contrast, she worried her sister only desired to cause more trouble in the coven. Kate shuddered but neither of her companions noticed. Irina wants a team of lackies to entertain her while she's a 'prisoner' here. She pushed her hands into her stomach again feeling another wave of nausea traverse her small frame as she listened to them plot. Waiting for another bloodwine didn't seem like such a bad idea after all.
Soon enough, Magnus arrived at the outcast table and appraised the scene. The girls had been well behaved, which gave Magnus cause for concern. Irina was only well behaved when she was scheming, in Magnus' opinion. Still, he couldn't chuck them out for behaving. Odi, though. He needed to go home.
"Remember what we said yesterday?" he asked his boy.
"I don't remember saying much at all," Odi replied, refusing to look at the man.
Magnus sighed. "I told you to check in at home a little more. And after last night…"
"You chucked me out of home," Odi sneered. "Are you chucking me out of here, too?"
Irina caught Kate's eye, both thinking the same thing – 'the kid's gone crazy!'
"Aye, I am." Magnus hadn't meant to sound so sharp, but the pressures of his job and home life combined were getting him down. Softening, he squatted down on his knees and turned Odi's chair a little to see him better.
Oh my fucking God! Odi silently cursed at the gesture. Could you be any more embarrassing?!
"Ren said she's fixed you up with Carlisle tonight."
Kate clamped a hand over her mouth, though her eyes danced with amusement. Irina wasn't quite so discreet and Odi definitely caught the girl giggling beside him. Not that he could blame them! You're treating me like a fucking toddler, Dad!
"You'll want to feed before you go out, won't you?" Magnus asked. "I know you don't want to put drinks on my tab. That's fine. Get some bloodwine at home so you're ready for tonight. Have a re…"
Magnus so very nearly said 'rest', so very nearly. Odi's wide, panicking, angry eyes cut him off just in time.
Without warning, Odi stood up and nearly knocked his father off his feet in the process. He hadn't meant to do that, but the result didn't necessarily displease him either. Still, he wasn't about to hang about in case his father decided to do anything else to embarrass him. What else could he do?! Odi asked himself. He supposed the guy giving him a swat in the guard hall would have been worse and high tailed it out of there before Magnus had chance.
Kate offered Magnus a weak smile as the man got to his feet and Irina did her best to ignore his existence until he'd cleared the room.
"It's nearly dusk, Irina," Kate pointed out, gesturing to the tall windows of the guard hall. "We should head home soon."
"We'll have another drink first," Irina replied, flashing to the bar before Kate could object.
To her surprise, Dora made space for the girl at the bar. She didn't talk to Irina, but she wasn't so spiteful as she had been, either. Small mercies, Irina thought, directing her order at Turk.
"I'll get those, Turk," Carlisle called across the girl's head.
Irina spun on her heel and looked Carlisle up and down. "And why would you want to do that?"
Renata asked the same of him, wondering what he was playing at.
Carlisle offered them both a genuine smile of warmth. "She's my niece, Ren," he explained simply. He missed out the fact that his brother had requested he keep an eye on the girls in the guard hall. He hadn't explicitly told Carlisle about the state Irina had returned home in the evening before - mainly because Eleazar had precious few details himself - but he'd made it clear that the girl was having some problems with the guards, and as his younger brother, Eleazar expected Carlisle to keep his eyes and ears open.
Irina outright laughed. "I am not your niece," she said. "I'm your brother's captive. No more or less than that."
She turned back to the bar and tried to ignore the look of hurt on Carlisle's face. Despite her wicked treachery, Carlisle had never been anything but kind to her and her sisters. In Irina's mind, that kindness could only be borne of wanting something from one of the Denali girls. There was no other reason a man like him would be nice to her.
"I don't know why you bother, Carlisle," she heard Renata say. "Whats the point in being nice to her when she throws it back in your face?"
"I'm not nice to Irina for her sake," Carlisle replied. He spoke in hushed undertones, but Irina still caught it. "I'm nice to her because I'm nice to the little two and it would be unkind to treat her differently to her sisters."
"It wouldn't be unkind," Renata insisted. "The little two are worth being nice to by virtue of being nice themselves."
Carlisle lowered his voice as Renata spoke louder to try and bring the conversation below Irina's hearing. "I thought Freyr told you to be nice to the girl?" he asked, or more, reminded the coven shield. Sadly, Irina heard.
"What was that?!" the girl burst. "Freyr told you to be nice to me?!"
Irina had found it quite amusing hearing the shield maiden had gone around the coven requesting guards and elite alike be nice to her baby boy. Forget amusing, actually, Irina had found the whole thing hysterical - humiliating for Odi, but hysterical nonetheless. It wasn't so funny now the shoe was on the other foot.
"How dare she?!" Irina raged.
Carlisle backed up a step and held his hands out placatingly. "Freyr was being nice…"
"What is this obsession with being nice all about?" feeling her hands ball into fists, Irina vibrated on the spot, knowing she would blow at any moment. She wouldn't give the juggernaut the satisfaction of publicly punishing her again, so it was time to leave. "Weak-ass, useless fools!" she called over her shoulder
Their short walk back to the west tower became a stress drenched nightmare for Kate. Irina seethed as they walked, spelling out in increasing detail how she planned on getting them away from the coven and back to the 'freedom' of their old life. Kate didn't want their old life and neither did Tanya! The younger girl had tried to slip that in a few times on their walk home only to receive a vicious verbal attack from her sister regarding her loyalty and good sense. She's just angry, Kate told herself, over and over. By the time they reached their chambers, Irina felt a little better for having ranted away her stresses, whilst poor Kate was rendered a nervous wreck!
"Kate, love," Carmen called to the girl softly as she came through the door. "Are you well?"
"Yeah," the girl replied, barely above a whisper. "I'm just tired."
Kate padded the floor to her bedchamber and fell face first onto her bed, not even bothering to adjust herself beyond drawing her legs into her chest.
Carmen had followed her young charge, worried, and went to light a candle on Kate's nightstand.
"Please don't light anymore candles," Kate groaned. "I have a headache."
"A headache?!" Carmen shot back in surprise.
"Stop shouting," Kate begged. "I need to sleep."
Carmen backed out of the room shaking her head. A headache? she thought. That's not right.
Tanya broke away from her book for long enough to explain. "Kate's a worrier," she said. "She thinks deeply about things."
That would be all the explanation anyone would get as Irina denied all knowledge of her sister having problems whilst they were out together. To be fair to Irina, she wasn't lying - she hadn't really considered her sister's state of mind at all, so she had little to report.
When Carmen's questions about Kate ceased, Eleazar took over with his own.
"You still have some explaining to do, young lady."
Carmen smiled quietly to herself as she left the main chamber and returned to Kate. She had, quite understandably, worried Eleazar would relent with Irina as she simply made chastising her difficult for him. Eleazar was known for being a placid vampire, after all. So placid, in fact, that were it not for his eyes, no one would know he was a vampire at all on meeting him. Carmen had forgot one key thing about her mate, however - Eleazar liked an easy life. He would do damn near anything to maintain an easy life and was quite prepared to put in the necessary effort to achieve the desired results.
"Irina!" Eleazar snapped, gaining the girl's attention. "Where did you get those bruises from?"
Tanya's ears pricked up. "What bruises?"
"It's nothing to do with you," Eleazar told the young girl. "Irina?"
Irina balled her hands into fists at her sides. You just can't leave well enough alone, can you?! "I fell down the stairs. It was dark, and I fell," she ground out through gritted teeth. "Happy?"
Moving Tanya aside, Eleazar leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his knees and steepled his hands together. He didn't take his eyes off Irina once, and the girl felt the pressure of his gaze. Irina was lying. Eleazar knew she was lying, and whats more, Irina knew Eleazar knew she was lying!
"Which stairs?" he asked, calmly.
For fuck sake! "The stairs, just the stairs!"
Eleazar simply raised an eyebrow as he continued to eyeball the girl.
Damn it! Irina cringed and finally broke eye contact with the man. "Does it matter?! Why do you suddenly care so bloody much?!"
"Because you are mine to care about, Irina."
The girl's eyes bulged and her face flushed ever so slightly as venomous blood rushed to her head. Eleazar protectively shot one arm out to the side to guard Tanya, but he needn't have worried. Irina wasn't about to attack. She turned her back on the room and wiped her sleeve across her eyes. Damn traitorous tears always made an appearance when she felt frustrated. Or emotional. Or emotionally frustrated!
You are mine to care about… Irina played his words over in her mind. I'm not yours and you don't care about me. Pillock. But a part of her really wanted those things to be true. Quite desperately, in fact. Sadly, that part of her heart had sealed itself when she was a child, a young human child cast out by her human parents for being too mouthy and too hungry. The only men that 'cared' about Irina since then had only cared about one thing… and Eleazar doesn't seem to care about that at all. Not with me, at least.
"Irina," Eleazar called out tentatively.
"I cry when I'm frustrated, okay?!" the girl snapped, still facing the wall wiling her tears to sod off. "People think they've hurt my feelings, but I'm really just trying not to rip their throat out and spit down their necks."
Eleazar chuckled a little. "Fine, don't tell me the truth," he said, cool as ice. It was enough for Irina to turn back and face him, which had been his intention. "But are no longer permitted to be out after dark unchaperoned. I wouldn't want to risk you having any more falls, my dear."
Far from feeling some affinity with the man, Irina suddenly wanted to smack him in the face. "You're making me crazy!" she screeched back.
"Tell me the truth and we can put this behind us."
"I don't see what purpose it serves to go over the whole awful business again and again." A fumble with Alex was SO not worth this! "Are you trying to give yourself nightmares?!" Irina asked with increasing distress. "Do you want to have an outrage wank or something?!"
"Are we allowed to say that?" Tanya asked Eleazar from his side, with a smirk thrown in her sister's direction.
Irina drew her fist back for a second before thinking better of it. Eleazar may have put her off slugging her sister, but that would be the only concession she would make. You aren't policing my speech!
"I'm allowed to say whatever I damn well like, Tan."
Eleazar shook his head. "As I told all you yesterday, I do not expect complete obedience from any of you, neither is it a trait I particularly value. That said, until we all get to grips with the new order, I'll be picking up on everything."
Irina may not have spoken, but her face was loud and clear. What. The. Fuck.
"Come to me, Irina."
Dream on, dickhead. Irina didn't move an inch.
Eleazar waited for a moment, giving Irina the chance to see sense. When the girl stubbornly folded her arms and rooted herself to the spot, he stood.
"As you wish."
Within a flash, Eleazar was at her side with a vice like grip around her arm.
CRACK!
Irina clamped her mouth shut to prevent a verbal reaction - she wouldn't give him the pleasure. Eleazar had only smacked her once - through the many layers of her gown, Irina suffered a minor sting at best. It was embarrassing all the same. Thank god the only witness is Tanya, she thought, although she soon changed her mind when she saw the glee on the young girl's face.
Once she was sure she could trust her voice, Irina took a deep breath and "I don't know what you think you are doing…"
"I was taught long ago to think before I act - if I smack you, rest assured I've already fully thought it through."
Before Eleazar could offer the girl a second strike, Carmen called for him in her worry for Kate and he had to leave things as they were. He told Irina she would remain in their chambers before he left her, giving Tanya even more ammunition in teasing her big sister.
Before long, Eleazar and Carmen brought Kate back into the main chamber where she lay down with her head in Carmen's lap as she read to her softly. Tanya soon joined them, as did Eleazar. They all called Irina to join them, of course. Irina refused to react.
There was something nice about the scene, though - even for Irina's dead heart. Her sisters seemed so happy, so comfortable, so… so cared for. How can they be?! It was galling to the elder Denali girl that her sisters showed such disloyalty towards their mother. But even she could see why Kate and Tanya were falling under the Volturi spell. Seeing Carmen stroking Kate's aching head was peculiar. Sasha never would have done that, she reminded herself. Not that Sasha was cruel to her girls, never! But there was a certain lack of care, a lack of nurture.
Since they arrived in Volterra, Tanya had insisted that Sasha had never been much of a mother to them, more of a friend who eventually sought her own desires above those of her so-called daughters. She's not wrong, Irina thought, then mentally slapped herself for thing such a thing!
Irina spent the remainder of the evening in silence, staring out of the window to the freedom she wasn't sure she wanted. For all her bluster, and even with her current resentment towards Eleazar for treating her so childishly, she couldn't work out what was best.
Though Kate soon felt better, Carmen still worried about her mental state – 'it's just not normal for vampires to feel ill', she had said, and sent the younger girls for an early night to recoup. Tanya tried arguing her case to stay up later, and for a while she seemed to be winning with Carmen…
Eleazar watched his mate and the youngest girl arguing back and forth and dropped his head onto the back rest of his chair. She's just like bloody Aro! he realised, listening to Carmen. He was right, too. Carmen quite enjoyed arguing the toss with the girls, just as Aro did with Felix. He had questioned his brother many times on the - in Eleazar's mind - odd behaviour Aro exhibited with his son. Aro always maintained that he didn't 'enjoy' arguing with Felix, but that it was actually good for the two of them. Both Aro and Felix were volatile and lived sedentary lives for vampires - arguing, or debating as Aro preferred to call it, helped relieve some tension. It was stress relief, plain and simple.
Closing his eyes, Eleazar decided there and then that he would only involve himself in such arguments if the girls crossed the line somehow - curing, or insults, he said to himself. The rest he would have to ignore for his own sanity.
Carmen eventually won and Tanya went to bed. They both seemed more relaxed for their pointless dispute.
Irina still refused to talk. She ignored Tanya saying goodnight, she ignored Eleazar leaving for his card game, and she ignored Carmen's attempts to engage her in conversation. She would have stayed that way all night long had Atia and Freyr not turned up unannounced.
"I need to get going," the girl said when the older vampires seemed set to stay.
"Do you have plans tonight?" Atia asked. She and Freyr had only visited the middle floor suite to see Irina, really. Both hoping to bring the girl out of herself a little.
Irina glared at Freyr as she said, "No, I just don't wish to share the same air as her."
Whilst Atia glared at the girl for her rudeness and Carmen wished for the ground to open up and swallow her whole, Freyr held her ground, quite used to disgruntled youngsters. "What have I done to offend you, Irina?"
"You've told your guards to be nice to me," Irina explained, tone full of spite. "Do you know how offensive that is?"
Freyr grinned at the girl. "Would you prefer it if I tell them to be nasty to you?"
"Why do you have to tell them anything at all?!"
"Because they are my guards, Irina," Freyr patiently explained. "And their conduct is my concern. I'll not have any of them being unkind to each other, let alone to you."
"Oh… well…" Irina wasn't sure what to say to that. "Alright then." Let alone you? She repeated to herself. As though I have some status here beyond prisoner?! Irina didn't believe it, but she wanted to.
"You are a princess, my dear," Freyr added. "Whether you like it or not, and my guards will respect you for that alone."
Arguing with Freyr was ill-advised, Irina knew that, and she told herself that's why she let the matter drop. It wasn't because she had started to like the idea that she was a princess, no, not at all. Honestly… I'm still not staying here, though, she thought, heading for the door.
"You aren't allowed out after dark, Irina," Carmen reminded the girl. "You have a tendency to fall down the stairs and hurt yourself."
Irina looked back at the three women, all smiling, or gurning as Irina thought it. Though Carmen offered her a bloodwine at least. She snatched the cup from the woman's hand and flopped into a chair muttering 'for God's sake!' as she did so.
"Wonderful," Atia said, ignoring Irina's attitude. "I have a gift for you, my dear." She placed a package on the table between them, covered in plain cloth and tied with a simple ribbon.
Irina didn't even bother looking at the item before announcing she didn't want it. "I don't need your pity gifts," she said.
"This isn't pity. I don't 'do' pity," Atia replied, pushing the package a little closer to the girl. "I find a little help is worth more than a lot of pity."
When Irina still refused to budge, Freyr explained, "Atia has a rather large bolt of fabric gifted to her by Basileus early in their relationship - she never did get around to using it."
"Second hand pity? Even better!" Irina scoffed. "I don't want it."
"I think you will when you see it," Freyr insisted, laughing.
Freyr's laughter and Atia's playful scowl in reply piqued Irina's interest. "Whats so funny?"
"Look for yourself." Freyr tapped the parcel on the table. "You'll like this, young one."
Curiosity go the better of her. Irina pulled at the ribbon and allowed the covering to fall away revealing… "That's…" she said, catching a lump in her throat. Irina pulled the bolt of fabric free from the covering and held it up to the candle light, assessing the pattern. "My mother had a dress…" she whispered recalling Sasha in her mind, smiling. Her smile grew when Irina realised why Freyr had started laughing. Sasha had told her the fabric came from the creator of their kind. "He didn't give you both the same gift?!"
"Oh, he did," Atia huffed indignantly. "The first time the four of you came to Volterra, the first alliance ball, Sasha wore a rather lovely gown and I knew I'd seen that fabric somewhere before."
Irina held the material to her chest thinking of her dead mother, but soon started laughing at the situation - particularly Atia's affronted expression! Sasha would have no doubt looked the same!
Atia scoffed. "Men!"
Both Carmen and Freyr fell about laughing. "That's so funny!" Carmen managed to squeak out between giggles.
"It's hysterical!" Freyr added. She had been laughing about that fabric for a good ten years and it still tickled her!
Atia nudged Freyr and shook her head at the woman's display. "I sometimes wonder why we are friends," she told her before sniggering a little herself. "For obvious reasons, I will not be able to use this bolt of fabric and there is plenty to make you and your sisters a gown a piece. If you'll accept it?"
"You must, Irina. You simply must," Freyr implored. "Can you imagine the creators face when he sees you walking around in a dress made of this?" that set the shield maiden off in guffaws all over again earning her another elbow in the ribs from her dear old friend.
"Alright," Irina agreed when she finally stopped laughing. She was game for winding up Basileus. "What do you want for it?"
Carmen winced. Why can't you just accept a gift?!
Atia, however, had been prepared for such a question from the girl - Irina couldn't stand to be in anyone's debt. "As payment," she said. "I ask that you help a little with tying Basileus in a knot when he starts putting two and two together."
"Deal."
Carmen left the three of them, using 'checking on Kate' as an excuse - she had received a nod from her mother in law to leave the girl in her hands. Irina surprised herself as she realised she felt more comfortable with Carmen in the room. Am I attaching to her, or something?! she wondered, feeling slightly perturbed at the idea.
"We are worried about you," Atia began once Carmen was clear of the room. "You've lost your friends and I don't like seeing coven members lost and alone."
That got Irina's hackles up. "I'm neither. I don't need anyone anyway."
Freyr moved to sit beside the girl. She felt Irina pull away, but it didn't put her off. "You have Kate and Odi from what I have seen in the guard hall."
"Is that what this is about?" Irina shot back. "You're worried about your baby boy?"
"What do I have to worry about?" Freyr asked, waving away the notion. "Odi has his own mind, you wouldn't be to blame for anything he gets up to and vice versa."
Oh? Truthfully, Irina expected to be fully to blame for anything Odi got up to, or anyone else for that matter. Still, she seems to be being honest with me, Irina mused. Freyr was always honest. Her and the 'moral Magnus' are painfully honest.
The girl relaxed a little. "What do you want to know?"
Atia smiled seeing the change in her demeanour. "How to make you happy."
"Let me leave." Even as she said the words, Irina knew somewhere inside that leaving wasn't what she wanted. What the hell do I want, then?! She couldn't answer that question, not even to herself.
"We've had that conversation already, my dear," Atia reminded her. "The power is yours. But whilst you are here, for however long that may be, how can we help you to be happy."
"My mother taught me that the best way to avoid disappointment is by not expecting anything from anybody." Irina clutched the bolt of fabric a little tighter to her chest. "That's my plan whilst I'm held here."
"That was good advice for the life you had and the way you lived. You don't have that life anymore, you don't have to live that way…"
"Don't judge me," Irina snapped, cutting Atia off in her stride. "You can't handle half of what Ive dealt with. There's a reason I do the things I do, there's a reason I am who I am."
Never one to be unnerved, Atia continued. "People live different lives and have different standards. That's just life. I'm not judging the life you had, but you have a different life now, my dear, and you need to realise the rules you lived by with Sasha will not work here. You need to learn new rules."
"Men are men wherever you go," Irina replied. Thinking of her recent experience with Alex, she was sure it was true. "They are all the same. They only want one thing and they can be completely controlled by that one thing, too."
Okay… so she wasn't doing so well at controlling Alex just yet. But that's because I don't know what I want to do with him, she told herself. Once I know, he'll do it. Irina was sure of that.
"Really?" Freyr asked, calling the girl out on her falsehood. "How have your charms worked on Eleazar, then? Because I heard you failed there."
"I don't want to talk about that."
Freyr circumvented Irina's attempt to leave her seat with a firm hand on her the girl's thigh. "I can't think of a single man in this coven who has any power here who would be interested in your ways of control. You need to learn new tricks to get what you want."
Irina noticed Freyr saying 'who has any power'… do you know about Alex, she wondered? Forget Alex, she told herself. "Caius was interested."
"Caius has peculiar standards," Freyr explained with a chuckle. "He rejected your advances, did he not?"
"I haven't even tried them on Basileus or Magnus, yet." "Is that what you're worried about?"
Both Freyr and Atia laughed at that one. Bless her.
Irina wouldn't take their ridicule (as she saw it) in silence. "Basileus continued his relationship with my mother whilst you were together," she reminded Atia. "He might like the idea of a spell with Sasha's daughter, for old time's sake."
Atia could take a lot, she was steadfast beyond believe, but she really wanted to slap the girl for that comment. Instead, she simply raised a single eyebrow at the girl and let Freyr take the lead.
"Irina, you really are making yourself sound quite silly, young one. This is what we're trying to explain to you. Your abrasion doesn't work. Your sexual advances don't work." Freyr sighed to herself wondering if there were any point in trying to advise the girl in a better course of action. Still, she pushed on. "Your bad attitude towards everyone in the coven certainly doesn't work. It's all counting against you, young one."
"How could it do anything else?" Atia said, mainly to herself.
Irina shrugged. "I'm not trying to win anyone over."
"Maybe not, but you are drawing attention to yourself," Freyr told the girl. "The only place we can be assured of your good behaviour is in the guard hall. And we all know why that is, don't we?"
Irina cocked her head to the side and took in the shield maiden for a moment. "Because your brute of a husband is an utter bastard?"
"Well, unless you would like all the other men of power to take a leaf out of my 'brute of a husbands' book, and be 'utter bastards', too, you will have to buck your ideas up."
"I'm a woman…"
Atia cut her off quickly. "You're a very young woman," she corrected. "And you are annoying half the coven with your attitude. Irina, you have been given a lot of rope since you've arrived because of the circumstances surrounding your arrival. That rope is at an end. You must find a way to move forward more cordially."
"What 'rope'?!" Irina asked.
"Carmen and Eleazar have deflected attention away from you girls since you arrived, my dear."
Freyr added her voice to Atia's, "How else to you think you got off so lightly with all that business last year?"
Irina didn't answer, but the two women could see the cogs turning in her mind. Irina had thought she got away with Halloween because Eleazar was too weak to do anything about it. Having the man recently step up in their quarters put that believe to rest. That left only one reason - Irina got away with causing merry hell because no one cared about what she got up to. She didn't quite believe that, either. Not anymore. Eleazar and Carmen seem to care… a little, at least… perhaps.
"Eleazar made sure everyone gave you a free pass, my dear," Atia explained. "But the coven has decided, despite Eleazar's insistence that your free ride continue, even with his promise to deal with you solo, that the time has come to hold the three of you to account."
"What exactly does that mean?"
"Quite simply," Atia said, patently. "You fall in line for one and all, or you will face one and all." Irina gulped, but Atia maintained her eye. "It's time to start impressing us, Irina."